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Who Are We, Anyway?Make Fun. Make Games.

The world’s gonna know your name. But first it has to love your game.

Playcrafting provides you with the tools to get yours off the ground--through tailored educational events, dynamic networking opportunities, and classes to help you crack the code to gaming success. From design to programming to business and beyond, your skillset’s about to get even sharper. Get a leg up from our network of pros in powering up your product, impressing the industry, and bringing your A-game to a whole new level.

Where the Magic Happens

Today: these cities. Tomorrow the world! Come find us in these places we call home.

New York City

San Francisco

Boston

Our TeamBehind the Curtain

Our team is dedicated to helping empower and grow game developer communities in each city we're in.

Dan Butchko, Founder & CEO

Dan Butchko oversees all operations for Playcrafting globally and carries out planning and execution of all education and events in New York. A graduate of New York University, Dan is the former Creative Director & Events Manager of Help For Children, where he worked for six years to help raise millions to prevent and treat child abuse in 9 U.S. cities and 3 abroad. He is also an independent graphic designer and game developer. Dan brings years of experience in marketing and event management as well as his passion for games to Playcrafting as he works to help game makers succeed and grow developer communities across the United States.

Dave Monteagudo, Northeast Director of Operations

Dave Monteagudo manages all operational aspects for Playcrafting in the Northeast. He has a passion for creating events and guiding collaborations to deliver dynamic experiences. Dave's work has been presented by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in partnership with the Met Media Lab, The Pan American Games, The Museum of the Moving Image and elsewhere. He is a Resident Director at The Flea Theater and brings over 5 years experience in production and project management. Dave is excited and committed to supporting the professional and aspiring developers of our community.

Frances Troche, Stream Coordinator

Frances organizes the stream schedule for Playcrafting in NYC. She is a freelance social media manager and brand consultant with over 5 years of gaming industry experience. Her passion for gaming has taken her all over the world, and she continues to make video game content on a daily basis for Twitch.Tv and YouTube.

Our Advisory BoardMore Hands on Deck

We can't do it alone, so we've assembled a guild of industry experts to help us help you make games.

Sinjin Bain, CEO MaxPlay

Mr. Bain has over 30 years of Sr. Leadership positions in the Interactive Entertainment industry, most recently as a Founder and CEO of MaxPlay. Prior to MaxPlay, Mr. Bain worked for Electronic Arts holding a series of Sr. Management roles in the company including: VP, WW GM of EA Partners (EAP), Vice-President Worldwide Business Development responsible for finding and signing independent developers such as Insomniac, Respawn, MTV / Harmonix, Valve, Epic, Crytek, Double Fine, Starbreeze, among many others. As an Executive Producer and studio manager with EA Mr. Bain Executive Produced multiple #1 charting games on Console, PC, and Handheld platforms, including The Sims, The Simpsons, Rock Band, Crysis and other best selling games. Mr. Bain has Executive Produced games for EA and EAP selling over 20M units generating over $1B in revenue. Prior to Electronic Arts, Mr. Bain founded and built a privately owned interactive entertainment studio called PyroTechnix that developed the technologies and engines used to build leading games such as Everquest, Return to Krondor, NFL Gameday and others.

Mabel Chung

Originally from the west coast, Mabel went to UC Berkeley (go bears!) and started her gaming career one summer as a video game tester. She went on to do marketing and localization at gaming companies like Sega and Nintendo (and was a member of Nintendo's Treehouse). Since coming to NYC, Mabel has been working for and consulting with startups such as Startup Institute, in the influencer marketing space, live streaming apps, and now Playcrafting. Her favorite games are arcade shooters (Time Crisis II), strategy (XCom, FTL), and RPGs (Final Fantasy VII, Skies of Arcadia).

Corey Wade, Partner, Sandbox Strategies

Corey Wade is a partner with Sandbox Strategies (www.sandboxstrat.com), a 10-year-old boutique firm focused on digital publishing services for video games. With offices in NYC and SF and partner agencies throughout the world, Sandbox handles marketing, publicity, influencer outreach, and events for companies like Activision, Telltale Games and Dots.

Andie Simon, Owner, Andie B. Simon, Inc.

Andie is inspired by people and companies who are passionate about what they do. She strives to make Music, Technology and Interactive Media fun, relevant and profitable. Andie runs her own consultancy business with clients including EA, Linkin Park, MaxPlay, SoundCloud, Turnstile, Qwire and Xbox Music.

Rob Vawter, Director of Developer Relations, Samsung

Rob Vawter oversees Samsung’s Developer Relations group in the US. He previously headed up business development and account management teams at two mobile games-related companies, and worked at Sony PlayStation on the business and tech sides. His specialties are platform and developer partnerships, and monetization in the PC, console, mobile, and VR/AR spaces. He started his career as a software developer and wishes that a program like Playcrafting had existed then to provide access to a collaborative network, and teach him new programming techniques and go to market strategies.

Kurt Bieg, Founder & CEO, Simple Machine

Kurt Bieg is the founder of Simple Machine, a game company in NYC. He has made a bunch of smash hit puzzle games for mobile devices, accumulating over half a million downloads. He is always pioneering new trends while crafting extraordinary experiences. Titles include: Circadia, LEX, Tomb Breaker, Hoots, Smove, Zaga and Pop the Lock.